UTT champion Reeth Tennison targets Paris Olympics 2024 qualification
After winning the Ultimate Table Tennis Season 4 championship with Goa Challengers, India's top table tennis player Reeth Rishya Tennison is aiming for a seat in the future Paris Olympics in 2024. Reeth has risen through the ranks and established her reputation both domestically and abroad.
She now wants to secure her position in India's table tennis contingent after outperforming her opponents in the UTT, but she must first clear a few obstacles.
"The ultimate goal for me will be Paris Olympics. I am working hard towards it, it is a year ahead of me so I am working hard towards it. I could also see a lot of improvement in my game like playing more WTT tournaments and improving my world ranking which is important for the next year to qualify for the Olympics apart from the WTT tournament there is a domestic tournament," Reeth said while speaking exclusively to ANI.
Reeth will be a reserve for India's Asian Games 2023 team before moving on with her ultimate objective.
She may not have the chance to participate in the competition, but she chooses to see the positive.
"No there is no disappointment in it, sometimes a player gets a chance to play and sometimes you do not, so, there is nothing to get disappointed in it. You just need to work hard that is a player's life. At the end of the day the medal is coming to India," Reeth added.
Given that Asian athletes occupy the top six slots in the senior women's rankings, India is expected to have a difficult battle in the Asian Games. Reeth explained why they are such a difficult obstacle to overcome.
"When you are playing against Asians, they are far better than other European players. They are putting more balls on the tables than other European players. Whenever I face Asian players it is a 50-50 match with me. I am playing with the same rubber that they play. They know how the ball will come but when it comes with anti rubber then they find it a little difficult to play. It's like I am going in their zone and and challenging them in their zone," Reeth said.
The Asian Games will take place in Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 8.